Incident reports related to deaths/injuries at sea

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If you wish to lodge a request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), please ensure that your request is in writing, states that it is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act and provides sufficient detail describing the documents you wish to access.

Further details on how to make a valid FOI request can be found on the agency’s website at: http://www.customs.gov.au/foi/requesting....

The FOI Coordinator will acknowledge your request within 14 days.

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The content of this email is intended only for use by the individual or entity to whom it is addressed.

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Dear Mr Fairless

I refer to your email dated 28 July 2014 in which you have sought access, on behalf of your client (via Right to Know), to documents held by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS) under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).

You have requested access to:

"a copy of any final document or most recent draft of a document which provides details of the death or injury of individuals who meet the below criteria:

1. individuals who have attempted to arrive in Australia without a visa via water-based means (for exemple, by boat or ship) and;

2. of those in criteria 1, those who were "turned back" either by using the same transport in which they arrived, placing them into a new form of transport, or by transferring them to another ship owned or operated by the Australian Government or another Government (for example, the Sri Lankan Government).

Where a report exists in the ACBPS Incident Management systems, I also request any documents (including images and video) that are attached to that report.

This request specifically excludes incidents which occurred prior to January 2014".

Your application was received on 28 July 2014, and the 30 day statutory period for processing your request will commence from that date.

I hope to be able to advise you of our decision on your request in the near future.

Where documents are released to you in response to your request, the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service may be required to publish these documents on its website within 10 working days in accordance with section 11C of the FOI Act. Publication will not be required where the documents contain personal or business affairs information.

Should you have any queries regarding the progress of your request, please contact me on (02) 6275 5621.

With kind regards
FOI Coordinator
Australian Customs and Border Protection Service

-----Original Message-----
From: Ben Fairless [mailto:[FOI #724 email]]
Sent: Monday, 28 July 2014 1:19 AM
To: FOI Coordinator
Subject: SAVED: Freedom of Information request - Incident reports related to deaths/injuries at sea

Dear Australian Customs and Border Protection Service,

I request, under the Freedom of Information Act, a copy of any final document or most recent draft of a document which provides details of the death or injury of individuals who meet the below criteria:

1. individuals who have attempted to arrive in Australia without a visa via water-based means (for example, by boat or ship) and;

2. Of those in criteria 1, those who were "turned back" either by using the same transport in which they arrived, placing them into a new form of transport (such as the widely reported "orange boats"), or by transferring them to another ship owned or operated either by the Australian Government or another Government (for example, the Sri Lankan Government).

This request specifically excludes:
- Incidents which occurred prior to January 2014

Where a report exists in the ACBPS's Incident Management systems, I also request any documents (including images and video) attached to the report.

I do not consent to the removal of names of either employees of the Commonwealth or Employees of any other nation's Government.

I would advise the Department against transferring this request to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection as I have made a separate, identical request to DIBP.

Yours faithfully,

Ben Fairless

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This email message and any attached files may be protected information under section 16 of the Customs Administration Act 1985 (CA Act) and may also contain information that is confidential, and/or subject to legal professional privilege.

The content of this email is intended only for use by the individual or entity to whom it is addressed.

If you ARE the intended recipient, and are subject to an undertaking provided under section 16 of the CA Act, you must not use or further disclose the information within this email except for the purpose for which it was provided to you or otherwise as required or authorised by law.

If you are NOT the intended recipient, you must not use, copy, disseminate, forward, retain or reproduce this email. If you receive this email in error, please notify the Customs Incident Response Centre immediately on 1800 303 387 (24hrs) and delete all copies of this email and any attachments.

Unsolicited commercial emails MUST NOT be sent to the originator of this email.

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Good morning Mr Fairless

Request for access to documents - Freedom of Information Act 1982

I refer to your request received on 28 July 2014 for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).

The decision on release in this matter is currently due tomorrow, 27 August 2014, and I would seek your response to this email as a matter of urgency.

In order for the Service to complete the decision making process in relation to your request, ACBPS will require additional time to process your request.

Section 15AA of the FOI Act permits an agency to agree with an applicant for an extension of no more than 30 days to the statutory timeframe permitted under the FOI Act for the decision making process.

The purpose of this email is to seek your agreement to the timeframe in this matter being extended by 14 days to ensure that the Service provides a well-reasoned and better managed decision.

Whilst we are seeking the extension of 14 days, ACBPS will endeavour to make a decision in relation to access to the documents requested as quickly as possible, and anticipate this would not extend to the entire additional 14 days.

This would result in the decision on release of documents in this matter being due by 10 September 2014, although ACBPS would continue use its best endeavours to issue the decision before that date.

Could you please respond by return email confirming your agreement to this extension of time? ACBPS will then register the Extension of Time agreement with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as required by section 15AA(b) of the FOI Act.

If you wish to discuss this matter further, please do not hesitate to contact me on the details below.